


Somebody to Love

by Fallen_Star



Series: Give Me Love [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, Slow Build, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-08-10
Packaged: 2018-04-13 23:54:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4542342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallen_Star/pseuds/Fallen_Star
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Hatake Kakashi was 13 years old he met the two people he would fall in love with in his life, he just didn't know it yet.<br/>The story of Kakashi, Obito and Rin.<br/>Accompanies Too Hot (Hot Damn) but it's not strictly necessary to have read that for this to make sense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somebody to Love

**Author's Note:**

> When one of my reviewers on Too Hot (Hot Damn) said it would be nice to see more about these three (someone who wasn't signed in so I wasn't sure would see a reply if I sent one - Kuko Grande if you read this thanks for the idea!) I expected to write 2000 words tops.  
> Obviously that didn't happen.  
> I tried to keep this as light hearted as THHD, but then it became pretty much the life and times of Hatake Kakashi and there was no way to keep that happy.  
> Anyways, enjoy!  
> (There is a mention of Sakumo's suicide in here, just a quick warning!)

When Hatake Kakashi was 13 years old he met the two people who would change his life. As a sullen, quiet and arrogant teenager the other children tended to avoid him unless strictly necessary: he didn’t have the time or the patience to deal with people his age, he was striving for greater things. He’d seen too many dark things already in the small amount of years he’d lived that anything a typical 13 year old would take part in seemed, to him, childish and unworthy of his efforts. So, when he joined a small self defence class in the hopes of learning skills he could use later in his chosen career path - a path he had no doubts he would achieve - he didn’t expect to meet three people who would fill a hole in his life he didn’t really acknowledge was there: until it wasn’t anymore.

Stepping into a room and having people turn to stare at him didn’t really faze him much anymore: his masked face and peculiarly coloured hair tended to draw looks, and he wasn’t overly concerned with the opinions of others. It did startle him somewhat, however, when he stepped into a seemingly calm, mature teaching environment only to be attacked head on by an energetic boy wearing goggles and wielding what appeared to be a wooden sword. Eyes widening, Kakashi took a swift step to the right and kicked up with his left leg, sending the wooden sword flying and causing a shooting pain to rush up his calf where it had made contact with the hard object. Kakashi frowned and turned towards his attacker, who was shaking his hand and exaggerating about the pain he was in. The other boy swirled around dramatically and fixed him with a glare, which Kakashi answered with a raised eyebrow and unimpressed hum.

“Oh! That was impressive!” A bright voice spoke from the back of the room and Kakashi turned towards it, a tall blonde haired man walking towards him, blue eyes sparkling in badly concealed mirth as he watched Obito get more and more frustrated with the lack of response from his would-be victim. Kakashi assumed this man was his teacher, and he was proven right as the next second the blonde man turned towards the other students and asked them questions about what had been done wrong/right in the situation they’d just seen. Watching this display, and marvelling as always at the stupidity of his age group, Kakashi observed a young girl leave the confines of the group and head towards the boy in the goggles, tutting at him and pulling his hand towards her to see the damage.

“There isn’t even a red mark, stop being such a baby.” The boy pouted and pointed to somewhere on his wrist.

“He didn’t kick _me_ , he kicked the sword. It’s my wrist that hurts.” He shot another ineffective glare Kakashi’s way, pouting his lips in what was presumably supposed to be a threatening look but actually came across as sulky. “I think he broke it.” The girl laughed in a musical, tinkling way Kakashi had only read about in books which almost made him smile (luckily for him he had his mask to hide his slightly upturned mouth), and Kakashi frowned minutely at his reaction.

“Don’t be a hypochondriac, if it was broken you wouldn’t be able to move it. Stop making a fuss and sit down.” When the boy opened his mouth to protest her soft face suddenly turned stern, molding the impression of her from sweet angel to passive-aggressive pitbull. The boy shrunk in on himself and turned to sit with the group, but not without scowling at Kakashi one last time. The girl also turned towards the silver-haired boy and smiled softly at him, gesturing with a sweeping arm that he should join them. Kakashi debated with himself before accepting the invitation, wandering over and taking a seat slightly away from everyone else, so as to give the correct impression that he wasn’t interested in interaction.

“Ah, as you can all tell by now, we have a new student.” All eyes suddenly turned to Kakashi, and he kept his own resolutely settled on the teacher’s face. “How about we all introduce ourselves? My name is Namikaze Minato, you can call me Minato.” The blonde man gestured to himself with a grin and turned expectant eyes on Kakashi.

“Hatake Kakashi.” Short and to the point, Kakashi didn’t feel any need to add anything more about himself - he wasn’t interested in making acquaintances he was interested in learning. Minato watched him for a little longer, his eyebrows climbing and his body leaning slightly forward as though to encourage Kakashi to elaborate. When he didn’t, Minato shrugged and gestured towards the girl to Kakashi’s left to introduce herself next. In all honesty, Kakashi mostly forgot the people’s names who introduced themselves in the following few minutes, the only ones sticking in his brain being those of the two he’d interacted with earlier: the name of the boy was Uchiha Obito (and he liked golden labrador dogs, try as he might Kakashi would forever be unable to forget this piece of information), and the girl was called Nohara Rin.

Obito was loud, constantly shouting and drawing attention to himself. He enjoyed making people laugh, and enjoyed it even more if _he_ could laugh at other people’s expense. Over the next hour and a half, while the lesson carried on and they got into teams to show off their skills, Uchiha Obito managed to get under Kakashi’s skin in a way nobody had been able to in a very long time. He hid it well, the mask certainly helped with that, but he did find himself snapping or using unnecessary force, something which managed to irritate him further: he took pride in the fact that emotions could not rule his behaviour, and to be riled up in the space of ten minutes by a boy he’d only just met was unacceptable. This was a very accurate prediction of how their relationship would be from now on.

Luckily for both Obito and himself, Rin was there to calm the situation down. Her easy smile and careful, deliberate way with words could almost instantly soothe the darkening and tense atmosphere, and Kakashi couldn’t help but find himself warming to her. It wasn’t until he’d known her for longer, and had developed a crush on her that was really quite alarming in its intensity, that he realised just how deliberate her speech was: Nohara Rin was a master at manipulation, and Kakashi was ashamed to say that he wasn’t immune to her power. When threatened or insulted she had a physical strength which was almost as effective as her sharp, merciless tongue, and she was deceptively forgiving: she would forgive up to a point, but then she was lethal in her ability to take a person down with a single devastating sentence and a sweet smile.

Needless to say, after his first lesson Kakashi did continue to turn up. Namikaze Minato was a teacher he came to admire and respect: a man with a big heart and a lot of talent, Kakashi learned from him not only how to fight but how to live. Over the years, even after the three had outgrown Minato’s class and moved higher, they would often go to visit the other man for advice and guidance. He became a mentor to them and a good friend, and when he married Uzumaki Kushina two years after they met him they were all present at the wedding, cheering him on and wolf whistling when he kissed his bride, making the blonde man blush and Kushina laugh heartily.

But, at 13 years old Hatake Kakashi didn’t know any of this. At 13, sitting on a floor in a room smelling of feet and floor wax, Kakashi knew only that this marked the start of the long road towards his goal in life. He wasn’t aware that the boy who’d charged at him ten minutes ago would become the man who would make him realise his goals weren’t really all that important in the grand scheme of his life, and he wasn’t aware that all three of these people would change his life for the better.

He didn’t know it yet, but he was sitting in a room with the only two people he would fall in love with in his life.

 

* * *

When Hatake Kakashi was 14 years old he felt his heart break due to romantic love for the first time. Walking in on his two best friends making out on a kitchen table at a party probably wasn’t the most unusual thing to happen, but it was in this exact moment that Kakashi realised two things in quick succession: that his crush on Rin was much, much more than that; and that she wasn’t the only one he felt for. Not knowing which person he wanted to push away from the other more was a very confusing conundrum for him, and realising his sexuality in the middle of an illegal high school party at the age of 14 probably wasn’t the most convenient place.

Over the past year he’d opened up some, not completely but he definitely wasn’t the unemotional robot he had once been. Obito and Rin had somehow managed to get through his defences, walls that he designed for a reason and had never intended for anyone to be able to climb, and he’d become attached. He knew, deep inside, that this was normal: most people had others that they cared for and relied on. Kakashi had promised himself long ago that he’d never open himself up to that kind of pain again, and yet here he was, hyperventilating in a stranger’s bathroom and trying to hold himself together long enough to tell the person banging on the door to _fuck off_.

He’d closed off his emotions for the first time when he was five years old, sitting at his weeping father’s side at his mother’s funeral. Hatake Sakumo was a kind but emotional man, and the death of his wife had hit him hard. Kakashi was forced to grow up very fast in the months following her death, and eventually he became the caregiver and his father the receiver: after being fired from his work thanks to a tragic incident that could have been avoided had he left his injured partner behind, the detective had fallen into a spiral of depression. By the time Kakashi found his father dead from an overdose, he had so much practice in the art of suppressing his emotions that he didn’t actually feel it at all until about two days later, breaking down with an ice cream in his hand in the middle of a park, his aunt pulling him into her arms.

That was the last time he could remember crying, and he refused to start again now.

He pulled down his suffocating mask and looked at himself in the mirror, his father’s face staring eerily back at him. Frowning at the image, Kakashi washed his hands and face and set his shoulders. Shoving his pesky emotions to the back of his mind - a practice he had long since mastered - he pulled his mask back over his face and left the bathroom, throwing a glare at the person who dared to scoff at him and taking a sick pleasure in their hasty retreat.

He stopped outside the kitchen door and took a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair and preparing himself. Plastering a smile onto his face (or more accurately into his eyes: despite how close they had become Obito and Rin still had not managed to overcome the obstacle of seeing underneath his mask) he walked into the room and closed the door softly behind him, not disturbing his busy friends. Taking up a casual position leaning against the counter, he picked up a straw to fiddle with and grinned.

“Well well well, what’s this?” The yelp and loud curse Obito let out as he jumped back in shock was almost worth the hurt he could still feel settling inside his chest. Rin herself emitted a small squeal of surprise, and they both turned to look at Kakashi with wide eyes and gaping mouths. He raised a slow, judgemental eyebrow at them and waited, patiently, for the explosion he knew was coming.

“You! We! Errrrr….” Obito drifted off from his exclamations as he realised that, honestly, considering what Kakashi had witnessed there really wasn’t any way to deny or twist what had been happening. Kakashi continued to stare at them, unimpressed, until Rin began to speak.

“Um, I think we’re as surprised as you are?” She glanced at Obito quickly to see him nodding his head before returning her gaze to Kakashi.

“I’m not surprised. It was bound to happen.” And, really, looking back on everything, this was true. It was pretty much a given that one of them would end up falling for Rin, and that she would probably fall for one of them too. Kakashi just got the short end of the straw, because he was the unfortunate one who happened to want them both and had to watch them be with each other instead. It was probably for the best: he had places he needed to reach, and he couldn’t reach them with the distractions and vulnerabilities that would inevitably come from being in a relationship.

He’d let Obito and Rin into his life, and although he cared too much for them both to be able to face undoing their bond, he also wasn’t prepared to allow them any further than they’d already gotten. He figured he’d grow out of his romantic feelings for them, at their age it was unlikely to carry on for much longer. He couldn’t have been more wrong really.

He was 14 years old when Rin and Obito began dating, and he would never see a day after that when they weren’t.

* * *

****  
  


When Hatake Kakashi was 16 years old he kissed Uchiha Obito for the first time: it tasted like cheap cigarettes and vodka, but it was the best kiss of his life so far, and the only one he’d really enjoyed. Sitting in the back garden at Genma’s party in the middle of winter, the two boys had huddled to avoid the cold and chatted for hours, taking turns drinking from the shop brand bottle of vodka Obito had brought with him. They spoke about everything and nothing, and as their brains began to succumb to the late hour and the alcohol their conversations turned more emotional and deep.

When Kakashi stopped in his retelling of his father’s story - something he hadn’t actually told anyone before and was momentarily astounded he’d spoken about - and turned to judge Obito’s reaction he found the boy staring at him with soft, caring eyes. Slowly, as though trying to avoid scaring away a frightened animal, Obito reached up to remove his mask. It had been about a year since him and Rin had finally managed to get past the mask and see the face underneath, and that had only happened thanks to a well-placed root on the ground tripping him up and the extremely sharp rock he had face planted onto. When the two had managed to compose themselves from their laughter long enough to help him, they had to force his hands away from his face to let them see. Both of them would forever be confused about why he insisted on covering such attractive features, but accepted and respected it regardless.

When Obito pulled down the mask that night, Kakashi thought perhaps a little naively that it was for the benefit of seeing his facial expression while he spoke: both Obito and Rin had expressed how they hated not being able to tell his emotions easily, although by now they were both pretty well versed in reading his eyes. Kakashi would later blame it on the alcohol that all he could do was blink slowly in confusion when Obito cupped his face, but in reality staring into the other boy’s eyes was dazzling him. Obito didn’t hesitate - once he made up his mind about something he simply charged ahead - and leaned forward to press his dry, chapped lips against Kakashi’s.

Considering that for the past two years of his life Kakashi had been fantasising about this moment, he felt like he handled it considerably well and displayed truly remarkable self restraint. Rather than throwing his arms around Obito and jumping into his lap like he wanted, he simply returned the kiss with as much enthusiasm as Obito himself was giving - which wasn’t an inconsiderate amount, to be fair. When Obito ran his tongue along Kakashi’s bottom lip, he did let out a small moan and opened his mouth to receive it, but considering how in his mind he was already planning how best to arrange themselves in this environment in order to have mind blowing sex (frostbite be damned) this was actually a very mild reaction.

It wasn’t until one of Obito’s hands fell to his thigh and the other fisted in his hair that he actually came to terms with what was happening. He was kissing his best friend, who he was fairly certain he was in love with, who also happened to be dating his other best friend….who he was fairly certain he was in love with. Pulling away with a gasp, Kakashi beat a hasty retreat and left a two foot gap between them, staring in wide eyed horror at Obito, who was looking at him like he wanted to throw him down on the grass and ravish him.

Which would be quite nice really.

 _Focus_.

“Rin.” Kakashi somehow managed to form a word. “You...Rin! Why would...she... _stop looking at me like that_!” Kakashi grew angry now, both in defence of Rin and because Obito was refusing to take this seriously - and the situation warranted it. Obito rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Don’t worry about Rin. Come back over here.”

“ _What_?” Don’t worry about Rin? Kakashi couldn’t believe Obito could be so callous about her feelings. He felt his face shift into a hard, emotionless expression as he stood, looking down at Obito with an ominous glare. He watched the other boy’s eyes widen and Obito stood to face him, putting his hands up in a calming gesture.

“I don’t mean it how you think! I’m not saying, you know, ‘don’t worry about Rin finding out it’ll be our secret’ kinda thing, I just mean...we’ve talked about it.” With this he paused and bit his lip, before gesturing at the space between him and Kakashi.

“We...both want it. _You_. We both want you. We thought we could maybe, do it together. All of us?” He phrased the last part as question, staring at Kakashi and growing worried as the boy’s expression never changed. On the inside, Kakashi was having a mini crisis: because Obito was offering him everything he’d wanted for the past two years on a fucking platter, and he knew that he couldn’t take it. He stood by what he’d decided two years ago: getting closer to them could only result in getting hurt, and his plans for his future would undoubtedly be affected in ways he refused to allow.

So, with a deep breath and a hardening of his heart, Kakashi shot Obito a sneer.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Ignoring the pang in his chest when Obito’s face twisted with hurt, Kakashi turned on his heel and walked away. Obito watched Kakashi walk away, torn as emotions swirled through him at an alarming rate before settling on a hot rage.

“You’re a liar Hatake Kakashi.” Said boy stopped in his tracks, not turning around but ceasing in his retreat.

“You want me. You want _us_. I know you do. You can’t lie to me.” Obito advanced on Kakashi and watched as his shoulders hunched in self defense. He reached out a hand and pulled Kakashi’s arm, turning him so they were face to face and baring his teeth.

“You love me.” Kakashi glared in return to the aggressive face Obito was making towards him, both boys standing there and glaring at one another.

“Admit it!” Kakashi threw out an arm and pushed Obito back, out of his face and away from his personal area. His face suddenly turned pleading and a flash of panic crossed his eyes, making Obito pause in his quick advance.

“Stop it.” Kakashi stared at Obito with a desperate look on his face for a second longer before he yanked his mask up furiously and walked away.

Later, when Obito relayed this to Rin amongst tears and extreme hand gestures, she smiled at him and told him it was actually good news. It meant that they were right, but Kakashi just didn’t want to admit to it.

He’ll come around, she said.

* * *

When Hatake Kakashi was 18 years old he met a boy named Maito Gai, and they became fast friends. They met when they both applied to the police academy, and although Kakashi had initially been put off by the other man’s over-enthusiasm and emotional outbursts, he soon came to view Gai as one of his closest and most cherished friends: a good thing considering they would become work partners for the next 17 years. Gai had a habit of challenging Kakashi to anything and everything, something Kakashi seemed to simply put up with but truly, on the inside, he looked forward to with a childish glee.

This was coincidentally also the age where he first witnessed the combined power of Rin and Obito’s possessive jealousy, but it wouldn’t be the last. When he introduced Gai to his two friends, expecting them to adore each other, he was surprised when they immediately took a disliking to the man: perhaps it shouldn’t have been as unexpected as it was, considering the reaction they’d had to his first girlfriend, but he’d figured that since Gai wasn’t any form of love interest - the thought actually gave him the shivers - that the situation would be different. He was wrong: from the moment he introduced them, Rin and Obito were all over Kakashi like a rash, refusing to leave him be as though to prove a point to Gai that they were all he needed (Gai, of course, took this in his stride and didn’t even blink).

Both Rin and Obito could be downright petty when it came to these things: over the past couple of years Kakashi had explained to them multiple times the reasons he wouldn’t be with them as a couple, and even though he’d never admitted to them his feelings they still called him out on his denial everytime (he was, of course, in extreme denial but it was just plain rude for them to point it out all the time). When they were older and the couple had grown more used to his rejections, and more mature, they would often joke about these things, the familiarity of the denial making everything more light hearted and playful. In the earlier years, however, their friendship grew strained as every new love interest in Kakashi’s life caused a fresh wave of hurt to wash over them, and every outright denial of his feelings stung and made them angrier.

Despite them growing to accept the situation however, Rin and Obito never liked anyone that Kakashi brought home, in fact they would make it a point to _dis_ like these people. They outgrew their hurt but not their pettiness.

They did eventually accept Gai into their lives - mostly because the man was completely oblivious, or perhaps impervious, to their obvious dismissal of him and kept coming back - and over time he became a very well liked figure, and was even invited to their wedding some years later. It helped when Kakashi explained to them (when they were feeling particularly insecure and he was in a giving mood) about Gai’s asexuality, and they immediately warmed up the the energetic man. Obito was fast to point out that this wouldn’t stop Gai from falling in love with him, or the other way round which is what the two were really worried about, but Kakashi reassured them that this resolutely would not be happening. And it didn’t, of course - unless Gai was very, very good at keeping his feelings under wraps, which anyone who spent more than five minutes in his presence would know wasn’t true.  

Eventually, when they were about 24 years old, Kakashi was forced to sit his friends down and tell them to stop their meddling - they had sabotaged every single one of his relationships, and although objectively Kakashi could understand their reasoning he wasn’t prepared to cater to them. Rin had an engagement ring on her finger and Kakashi found himself staring at it while he spoke, an overwhelming sadness growing in him which he didn’t have to power to stop. Obito had tried that day, as he had time and time again, to convince Kakashi to ‘see the light’ as he phrased it, but Rin sat silent and dismal, knowing that this was it.

That day wasn’t the first or last time Hatake Kakashi broke his best friends’ heart, and it wouldn’t even be the worst, but it was the first time he did it with a smile and kissed them afterwards, telling them they wouldn’t ever be kissing him again.

It was cruel and it was intended to hurt.

* * *

 

 

When Hatake Kakashi was 19 years old he had his first threesome. It was with the wrong people, and it left a bad taste in his mouth. He would make several more attempts to satiate the ache in his heart in this way, and they all gave him the same reaction. This first time though, led to him running straight to his old teacher and telling him everything in a rush, putting his head in his hands and asking Minato for his advice.

Minato had smiled kindly and made him tea, pampering him with biscuits and sweet things until Kakashi had calmed his pain. Then, Minato asked him what it was that  _he_ wanted.

“I don’t want to be with them.” As soon as the words left his mouth Kakashi knew his teacher would hear the lie in them, just as surely as he knew that Minato wouldn’t point it out.

“You’re sure?” Kakashi raised his head from its bowed position to give the blonde man a desperately confused look, reminding Minato of his age: sometimes, it was easy to forget that this weathered man was only 19 years old.

“No, I’m not. But I’m sure that I can’t be with them.” Minato pushed back the pain those words caused him, knowing Kakashi’s reasons and hating them - but understanding them too.

“They love you. Both of them. Let yourself have this, Kakashi. Give yourself this much.” It wasn’t a new thing, telling Kakashi to let himself be happy. Time after time Minato had been forced to beat some sense into that thick skull, and although Kakashi had loosened up considerably (and he knew Rin and Obito had almost everything to do with this) he was still the traumatised, emotionally disengaged child he had been when they’d first met.

“I can’t love them.” Kakashi’s voice was quiet but strong, steady in its determination. Minato sighed and placed a comforting hand on his student’s shoulder, waiting until their eyes met before speaking his reply, knowing even before he’d said it that no words would be strong enough or convincing enough.

“Loving someone doesn’t make you weak.” Kakashi let out a hollow, unfriendly laugh at this.

“No, it makes you vulnerable.” Minato sighed and released his hold on Kakashi, standing straight and taking the mugs from the table.

“Don’t let your goals come before your happiness.” When Minato returned from the kitchen Kakashi was gone, a small note thanking him for his hospitality in the place where he’d sat.

If he’d known those were the last words Kakashi would ever exchange with his teacher, he would have made them longer, and more personal: two days later that smiling, kind, loving man and his loud, boisterous beautiful wife flipped their car avoiding a deer on the road. Minato was pronounced dead on arrival by the emergency services: Kushina survived long enough to give birth to their child before joining her husband. At the funeral, Kakashi sat stone faced and emotionless as his best friends gripped a hand each and sobbed on his shoulders, knowing that he’d wasted his last interaction with his teacher on discussing unimportant things, and wishing more than anything that he could start it over.

When Minato’s good friend Jiraiya turned up at the wake with a blonde baby in his arms, neither Kakashi, Obito or Rin could bring themselves to meet that child.

* * *

When Hatake Kakashi was 25 years old he reached his life goal of becoming a police detective, and didn’t feel the happiness he had always expected. It felt hollow and empty, and he tried to convince himself that this feeling had nothing to do with the fact that two months earlier Obito and Rin had married, but never quite managed it.

The wedding had been a beautiful one: Rin was stunning and deliriously happy in her white gown, she floated everywhere she walked and laughed more than Kakashi could handle, the butterflies her glee brought him still rendered him speechless more often than not; Obito had been breathtakingly handsome in his fitted suit, smiling widely and spinning around anyone within his reach, highly excitable and bouncing in his happiness. His brothers were all groomsmen, but Kakashi held top spot as best man - Obito and Rin had argued extensively about whether Kakashi would be best man or maid of honour, but eventually Rin conceded and agreed that Kakashi would throw a terrible hen party. Some years later she got him drunk and he revealed exactly what he would have planned for it: she’d never regretted not giving him the position more than at that moment.

The reception was filled with family and friends, Obito’s nephews running around setting things on fire with the candles on the table, and causing general mayhem wherever they went. The youngest, Sasuke at age six, got drunk on the free wine bottles he kept stealing from tables, and watching him attempt to run after his elder brother with an unsteady footing and slurring words had been the highlight of Kakashi’s day.

Kakashi pointedly ignored the way both Obito and Rin attempted to make eye contact with him during their vows, and avoided their questioning, sad gazes when he left the party before anybody else.

Ten years after his promotion, when he was settled and had made a name for himself in the field, Kakashi got into a nasty altercation with a suspect which had ended in him losing a kidney and the sight in one eye, and resulted in him taking the first life in his career. While he was in the hospital, struggling to breath due to a punctured lung and barely out of surgery - still hazy from the strong painkillers he’d been given - Obito came to see him. He yelled and he cried and he pleaded: this wasn’t the first time since he’d joined the law enforcement that Kakashi had been in hospital, and wasn’t even the first time he’d been stabbed, but it was the first time his heart had stopped on a surgery table. He’d scared the shit out of the people who cared about him, but Obito was the only person he could think of that would come visit a person in hospital purely to yell at them.

It wasn’t the first time that they fought, and it wouldn’t be the last. Normally, it was over small things: they had a tendency to get under the other’s skin. Most of the time, after they had both sulked for about a week and moaned to Rin about the other until she couldn’t handle it anymore, they were dragged together by their hair or their ears until they grudgingly apologised and made up. This time though, Obito was really, seriously angry, and it wasn’t petty or small - it honestly felt like a break up from a long term relationship, something Kakashi refused to analyse but which left an empty feeling in his chest.

Obito didn’t talk to him for months after he refused to leave his job, until Kakashi was yet again lying in a hospital bed with a hole through his chest. Obito sat beside him for days before he woke up, and Kakashi finally, _finally_ agreed that maybe this wasn’t the life for him after all. When Obito leaned down to kiss him in relief Kakashi didn’t stop him, but he did frown at him after he pulled away. Obito gave him that small, sad smile he always gave when Kakashi refused him this way, and resorted to holding his hand until Rin came to find him, screaming baby nestled in her arms, leaning down to place the child gently on the silver-haired man’s chest where she calmed upon hearing his heartbeat, before taking his other hand until it was time to go pick up their other brat from school.

When Kakashi started teaching university students the ways of Criminology, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d finally found his calling in life.

* * *

When Hatake Kakashi was 30 years old he came very, very close to having sex with Rin and Obito. He didn’t think the two realised just _how_ close the situation had been, and he knew that if Obito had brought it upon himself to disregard their unspoken agreement not to kiss he would have fallen into their bed.

Often, when Kakashi decided to laze around Obito and Rin’s apartment, he would fall asleep and wake up with a blanket around him and a child cuddled up to him. He had the enviable ability to fall asleep pretty much wherever he was, and if he was around people that he trusted he was very difficult to wake, meaning that normally they would just let him sleep. One particular day, Kakashi fell asleep on their sofa as per usual. On this day, though, there were no children to settle with him: Madara had offered to take them for the night, and although the kids were actually quite afraid of the man Obito and Rin were hardly going to turn down a rare child-free evening. When Obito and Rin walked out from the kitchen where they had been preparing dinner together and saw Kakashi on the coach, they let out synchronised sighs of desire and adoration.

It had been 17 years since they’d met him, and 14 since they’d admitted to each other and to Kakashi their feelings for the other man. In that time, they had both learned defence mechanisms against his charm and attractiveness: Kakashi had made it clear more than once that he didn’t intend on being with them, and although they all knew how much the silver-haired man _wanted_ to be in their relationship, they accepted his wishes. However, sometimes Kakashi made this very difficult, and there had been many times when they had been unable to resist pushing his boundaries a little.

Times when Kakashi would insist on having a shower at theirs and then walked around shirtless with wet hair had resulted in Obito plastering himself to his friend and propositioning him (in a very tempting way - more than once Kakashi had almost succumbed to his desires, only his incredibly strong self control keeping him from it). Times when he would come back from a jog sweaty and breathless, face glowing and hair windswept, and Rin would accidentally-on-purpose forget he was there and walk into the room in her underwear (“ _Oh, Kakashi, you’re here! I didn’t realise. Look at that I’m in my underwear silly me, lucky you aren’t the type to take advantage._ ”) Times when Kakashi would drop something under the sofa and get onto his hands and knees to retrieve it would always, without fail, result in a hand on each butt cheek and two cheeky grins.

Normally, if Kakashi fell asleep on the sofa they would tuck him in and leave him be. But this time, they stood there for a while staring at him. It was very rare that Kakashi would have his mask down at any time, let alone while he was asleep: the only reason he had done so now was because he was certain that none of the kids would be around (he enjoyed the game where they jumped on him and tried to get the mask off, and wasn’t willing to sacrifice the fun anytime soon). His face was so peaceful, and _cute_ , and the two stood there in mutual awe for a good, long while until the oven timer went off. Sighing again and looking wistfully at Kakashi one last time, Rin went to get their dinner before it burned, while Obito took it upon himself to wake his friend.

If this had been any other day, his preferred method of waking Kakashi would have been a glass of water to the face, or maybe pinching his nose until he gasped awake. Today, though, Obito was feeling warm and affectionate, so he kneeled down next to the sofa and brushed Kakashi’s unruly hair away from his face. Smiling softly at the small frown that appeared on Kakashi’s face, he continued to stroke his hair and crooned his name quietly. With a questioning noise Kakashi’s eyes opened a crack and locked onto him before frowning once more and closing them shut again, smacking his lips and sniffing sleepily. Obito giggled at how frankly adorable this was and called Kakashi’s name again, receiving an irritated, sleepy hum and the eyes finally opening fully.

“Mmm. Wha time ‘sit?” Kakashi stretched his legs and nuzzled into the hand still in his hair, closing his eyes as he let out a yawn.

“Dinner time, you wanna eat with us? There’s enough.”

“Hmm.” Kakashi finally appeared somewhat coherent as he opened his eyes again, rubbing at his left eye and sitting up, Obito’s hand falling from his hair. Stretching his arms behind himself and arching his back, letting out a small moan and tossing his head back, Kakashi managed to seduce Obito with one movement.

“Nah, I should get home.” Obito struggled to remember what they were talking about.

“You sure? We’re glad to have you.” Kakashi turned to him and smiled lightly, eyes crinkling in a familiar way and making Obito feel special (like always) that he was one of the very few allowed to see the facial movement to accompany the eyes.

“Mah, it’s fine. I’m sure you two wanna take advantage of a child-free night.” Kakashi winked at him and swung his legs around the sofa. Obito stayed on his knees and looked down at his hands for a minute, debating with himself, before ultimately deciding ‘fuck it’. He took one of Kakashi’s hands in his own loosely, just hooking his fingers around the others’.

“We’d like it even more if you were there too.” Obito both felt and saw the way Kakashi tensed at his words, but he didn’t let go of his hand (or his hope) just yet. Kakashi fingers moved against his in a small, intimate gesture and he turned his head to meet Obito’s eyes, which flickered quickly to his lips before travelling back up his face. They stared at each other for a long while before Kakashi finally moved, taking his hand away from Obito and coughing awkwardly. Obito swallowed his disappointment and stood, holding out a hand to haul up his friend and laughing when he intentionally pulled too hard and Kakashi struggled to stay upright.

“Go home and read your porn then you loser.” Obito watched as Kakashi’s face lit up as he remembered the book waiting for him at home before he pulled his mask up, walking towards the kitchen to say his goodbyes to Rin - and to steal a portion of dinner to take home with him, of course. Obito followed Kakashi as he walked towards the front door, carrying a plate and looking very pleased with himself.

“Kakashi.” He waited until the other man turned. “Just remember that while you’re sitting there reading your smut, you could have been here having the real thing.” Obito distantly heard a gasp and a clang as Rin presumably dropped something in the kitchen when she heard his comment, her bell-like laughter drifting out of the room shortly afterwards. Kakashi raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him, juggling what was in his hands to flip Obito his middle finger before leaving the house. Obito turned to where Rin was standing in the doorway and gave her a sad but genuine smile.

“I tried. Almost had him as well.” Rin smiled just as sadly back.

“There’s always next time.”

They had said the same thing every time for the past fourteen years.

* * *

When Hatake Kakashi was 37 years old, Obito’s youngest nephew brought home a boy for the family to meet. The boy had blonde hair, a dazzling smile and bright blue eyes. He was loud and boisterous and caring. Kakashi had to sit for a minute to get back the breath stolen from his lungs, and watched as Rin did much the same. Across the room, Obito gave them a small, sad smile which made it impossible for them to be angry at the man for not giving them any warning, knowing that the Uchiha had met this boy before.

Normally when a relative brought a love interest over, the three took it upon themselves to try and scare that person away, a test to see how far this person would be willing to go to stay. From the moment Kakashi laid eyes on Uzumaki Naruto he knew, without a doubt, that this boy should be in the family forever, and he would do everything in his power to make it happen.

He wasn’t the only one, and both Obito and Rin joined him when he began to tell Naruto stories about his father: the blonde wasn’t the first person they’d collectively made cry as a trio, but he was probably the first that cried out of happiness rather than fear. They all figured they had a lot to make up for when it came to Naruto, especially when they heard about his childhood from Sasuke, and letting him know exactly what kind of a man Minato had been - the good, the bad and the ugly - was the least they could do.

That evening, when the kids were staying with Shisui in a ‘huge cousin funtime sleepover’, and Kakashi was still loitering, he found the courage to finally, _finally_ , tell the two people he adored that he loved them for the first time. Seeing Naruto had reminded him of the last words Minato had spoke to him, and he decided he was finally ready to listen. As Obito cleared the table of plates and Rin washed them in the kitchen, Kakashi blurted it out from his spot on the sofa.

“I love you.” Obito grinded to a halt and turned to stare at Kakashi in bewilderment, catching his eyes and seeing the determination and confirmation there. Rin skidded out of the kitchen in her hurry and stood in the doorway in shock, watching Kakashi and Obito stare at each other with an open mouth. Kakashi turned his unwavering gaze towards her and repeated himself.

“I love you.” Rin let out a small sob and covered her mouth, unbelieving that the words she’d been waiting to hear, that _they’d_ been waiting to hear, for over twenty years had finally been said. Crossing the room and passing a still-frozen Obito, she took Kakashi’s face into her hands and kissed him, feeling him tense in reflex reaction before he melted into her, his hands moving to her hips and pulling her forward. She laughed happily into his mouth and he grinned back, biting down lightly on her bottom lip.

“What? What... _what_?...what’s happening?” Obito’s voice was high pitched and confused, glancing between Kakashi and Rin like he didn’t know where to look. He was unwilling to let his hope climb from the pit it had sunk into over the years, but when he finally settled his gaze on Kakashi’s face and saw the soft, open smile there his heart soared. Stalking forward, he ran a hand through Kakashi’s hair gently, pausing with his finger buried at the back of his head. Suddenly frowning, Obito pulled his hand away and used it to slap Kakashi round the side of his head, making the other man splutter and hearing a startled laugh from Rin.

“You are such a _fucking asshole_.” When Kakashi lifted his head to argue back Obito leaned down and covered the open mouth with his own, kissing aggressively until he felt Rin’s hand travel down his back in a soothing caress, mellowing his movements so the embrace softened but became no less passionate. When he pulled away, very reluctantly, the three just stared at each other until Rin grinned, grabbed both of their hands and tugged. When everyone was standing, and feeling frankly ridiculous in a circle looking at each other, Rin’s smile darkened into a seductive playful one, and instantly Kakashi’s blood pooled down to his groin.

Still gripping their hands, she walked backwards until they reached the bedroom, when she dropped Obito’s digits to swing both her arms around Kakashi’s neck, pulling him into a heated kiss. Obito kicked the door closed behind them.

Later, when they were lying awake and satiated, Kakashi whispered heartfelt apologies to them and finally told them about his last conversation with Minato. The other two listened sadly, and when he was done they fell into a contemplative silence, until Obito spoke to break the silence.

“If we’re doing the confessing thing, you should probably know that that was my first time having sex with a guy.” Kakashi turned to look at him and smiled at him sweetly.

“Obviously.” As Obito spluttered in offense and the two men started an argument which would end in moans, Rin laughed as all the pieces of her life finally fell into place: they were finally a complete set.

* * *

When Hatake Kakashi was 37 years old he woke up naked sandwiched between the two people he loved for the first time, Obito snoring deafeningly into one ear while Rin breathed morning breath onto his face. His arm was trapped underneath her and had gone to sleep, and he could feel Obito’s morning wood pressing uncomfortably against his back. There was itchy patches of dry come on his front and back, and a hand on his ass but her couldn’t really tell whose.

When Hatake Kakashi was 37 years old he woke up cold, uncomfortable and sticky with his two married best friends. It felt like coming home.

****  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Writing this in two days has given me some hope that my 7000 word dissertation isn't going to be as horrible as I feared - obviously I can't write that on ninja nerds in love but I'll take whatever confidence I can get!  
> This is simultaneously the fluffiest and most angsty thing I've written, both things I'm not very good at so I hope it wasn't too awful.  
> I chickened out on a three-way smut scene.


End file.
